[ImFatYoureFat]

"In an age when nations have become so large that their citizens no longer identify with distant governments..."

What? it would seem like the complete opposite of this is true. I would say that nationalism and national identity, in the US and most other places in the world, is stronger now than it has been in the past 50 years.

[krakensden]

Indeed. Honestly that seems like the biggest problem with the plan- most local politicians and representatives are complete nobodies, they get elected by riding the coattails of presidential and maybe the senatorial elections.

[natrius]

That's because the media doesn't do a good job of informing people about what state and local politicians actually do. Luckily, there's a way to fix that. At the Texas Tribune, we're aiming to solve that problem, and there are similar California-based organizations.

http://californiawatch.org/

http://www.baycitizen.org/

[endlessvoid94]

Identifying with your governing body and feeling represented is NOT the same thing as having "national pride".